In October 2005 the European Commission proposed a Strategy for Africa to be pursued by the European Union (EU). The European Council will decide on the strategy in December. What is new about this strategies and policies of the Commission, Member States and European Community within a single...

Concern with governance has become a prominent topic in Africa. With the African Review Mechanism (APRM), African leaders have addressed a taboo in post-independence Africa. The Organisation for African Unity’s (OAU) emphasis on the sacrosanct principle of non-interference and territorial...

China’s headlong rise to the status of a world power is leading to some profound changes in the global system: Indeed, we can say that a new multipolar order is in the making. The consequences of this transformation are impressively evident in Africa. China’s expanding presence there is...

Sub-Saharan Africa comprises 48 states at various stages of social, economic and political development. Despite the heterogeneity of these countries, the following general developments relating to statehood and governance in the past 15 years can at least be identified: Such pan-African...

Among the EU institutions, the European Parliament (EP) tends to be notoriously underestimated. This is particularly true in the field of external relations, usually perceived as a prerogative of the executive. As seen from the past legislature (2004–2009) the EP showed, however, that there...

At the end of 2009 important changes will be implemented in European foreign relations. Previous reforms in European development policies have not changed the basic decision-making procedures, and the lines of responsibility for development policies have remained and will continue to remain...

Both the European Union and multilateral agencies in the United Nations (UN) system are important partners for German development policy. Roughly one third of the official development assistance (ODA) Germany provides is spent for multilateral development cooperation (DC). At the same time,...

Africa has seen political and institutional change over the last decade, yet in the 50th year of independence of numerous states, the profundity of change remains unclear. The prospect of successful continental integration has arguably suffered a loss of political drive with the absence of...